Fauquier County parents upset over two-hour delay

NEW BALTIMORE, Va. (WJLA) - Friday morning’s freezing rain caused serious problems on the roads and sidewalks. Most schools had a two-hour delay or were called off, but a series of bus accidents had parents furious with some local school systems.

David Jeck says that schools like Kettle Run High School in Virginia should have been closed for the day and not on a delay. The bad weather held on longer and was worse than expected, leading to decisions that weren’t perfect.

On even the driest days, Hillside Drive is no easy climb.

“This road is notoriously dangerous,” says Clayton Yoder.

Yoder lives in the New Baltimore neighborhood where a Fauquier County school bus slid right off the icy road at 8:45 a.m.

“I do know the road was treated, but probably just not enough,” Yoder says.

The students, 10 from Auburn Middle School and 10 from Kettle Run High School, were taken safely off the bus and to a firehouse on Rt. 29 before getting a new ride to school.

“I got nervous about that,” says parent Emma Hill.

Hill, like many parents in Fauquier County, thinks the two-hour delay was not enough.

“I think they should have closed schools because it was slippery out,” she says.

In a statement, Fauquier County Superintendent David Jeck said, "I made the wrong call this morning. Operating on the best information I received, I made the decision and I accept responsibility."

The roads were slick in Anne Arundel County, too. School officials also made an apology for not canceling school.

“We made the most reasonable and prudent decision based on the information we had at the time.”

In Loudoun County, 23 different buses had problems Friday morning because of the weather; several were stranded for hours of rural roads. A spokesman for Loudoun County says that despite some challenges because of the weather, no buses crashed and at no point were students or staff injured or in danger.